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Bloody mouth injury caused by sudden shutting of jaw during sleep

Posted , 2 users are following.

BC2013
BC2013

Some might consider having a relaxed jaw and having it open during sleep is a normal thing, but not to me. I don’t usually do that. However, lately I found my jaw open during sleep in more than few occasions. Couple times it accompanied by a sleep apnea type of symptom which had me choked in sleep. Couple times it just stayed open and caused a severe dryness inside my mouth and on my throat. Couple times my jaw snapped shut hard voluntarily all of a sudden. That was what happened last night, again.

I was woken up in the middle of the night and found my jaw open and my mouth and throat severely dry. I was still half asleep at that point. And all of a sudden my jaw snapped shut voluntarily. It snapped really fast and hard which caused me to bite through the lower left corner of my lip. I tasted blood in my mouth immediately. It was a really painful bite. I couldn’t believe I injured myself that way in the middle of the night during sleep. Like I said, it happened before but the one last night was really hard.

Was it some kind of muscle disorder? I have no idea why and how it happened. Is there any way to prevent it from happening again? Please advise. Thanks

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Guest
    Guest

    Posted

    I'm exactly the same but I bite my tongue, I haven't got a clue what causes it, it hurts a lot though rolleyes
  • jonmac
    jonmac BC2013

    Posted

    I do the same thing, only I bite my tongue.

    I think its part of sleep apnea but not sure, I haven't been diagnosed with it, just my opinion.

    Still haven't found any answers

  • gaiusgracchus
    gaiusgracchus BC2013

    Posted

    Same thing happens to me.   Not every night, but on occasion my teeth will suddenly snap shut, sometimes almost violently, and if my tongue is in the way it gets cut badly.    It is a very fast snapping - I could not do that sort of a motion voluntarily if I tried.

    It will, of course, wake me out of a deep sleep when it happens.   I wish I knew what caused it, too.

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